Infinity loops in color: Celtic Valentine's hearts

  

With Infinity Loops, it's easy to make contrasting color motifs, like these hearts. So here these cuties are, from me to you. Happy Valentine's day 2023! 

  

(If this is your first time finding out about Infinity Loops, maybe go back and read the intro post, and also the post on same-color hearts.) 

 Each arm of a contrasting-color Celtic motif is knit from its own length of yarn, as with knitted Intarsia. There is no stranding behind, as is common with color knitting.  

Prepare by cutting a 90"length of contrast-color yarn, then fold it in half. This length will be knit from the middle to the two ends. In other words, each 45" end serves as the yarn for one of the two arms of the heart. This also means that at no time is the yarn stranded across the back. Each arm has its own strand with which it is knit, and the strands stay with their arm through the cable twists by which the arms travel across the background fabric.

Below is the beginning of the work: a yellow heart is started to be knit on a blue background. This shows the back of the work. In other words, row 1 has been knit, and row 2 is about to be knit from the chart which appears at the bottom of this post. The yellow contrasting color strands are pinned down in this photo, the two foundation loops of each arm have each been knit from their respective side of the folded cc strand. The purple yarn is the placeholder into which the yellow cc sts have been knit. 

  

At the end of this post you'll find the chart and written instructions for the heart . This is simply copy-pasted from the Celtic heart post, However, the parts to knit in color are now in RED. 

The trick is to knit the RED-PRINTED stitches in the contrasting color (cc). In order to lock the contrasting color onto the background, make a rule for yourself to always lift the new yarn you are about to knit (whether background or contrast color) up from under the yarn of the previous color stitch.

Again, this is NOT like regular color knitting where each yarn strands across the back, this is intarsia. Here, each arm is knit from its own strand, and, as with all intarsia, this trick of lifting the new yarn out from under the old serves to twist the contrasting color and the background yarns together, locking them together with no holes on the fabric surface.

There's one little catch, a side-effect of lifting the yarns out from under one another. Twisting not only twists and locks the yarns onto the fabric surface (a good thing) but also twists together the yarns you're knitting with (a bad thing). In other words, by the end of each row, the "up from under "rule has tangled your running yarns together. This is annoying, but fortunately, easy to fix. Simply grasp each cc strand near its base and tug until the loose end comes free. That will untangle the entire nest of yarn. (In fact, I now do all intarsia knitting this way, not bothering with mini-skeins or butterflies or bobbins or anything like that--just using long loose cc pieces hanging freely, which are pulled out of the yarn bird-nest at the end of every row, much easier to untangle than any other method.)

As you recall from the beginning parts of this series, the stitches of the Celtic figure are "transformed" by re-latching them upside-down with a crochet- or latch-hook. 

  

The yellow square with the green heart above has been knit, then transformed, but has not yet been dupli-grafted together at the inner or outer point. (Again, the intro post, and the post on same-color hearts explain the entire process.) 

Here is a photo of the back. On this square, the strand-ends have not yet been worked in. As you see, there are only strands at the top of the heart-lobes, not at the inner or outer point. This is because at those points where the arms depart, the cc yarn has been folded into to two separate strands. In this way, the foundation-stitches of the outer and inner points are both knitted from the same continuous cc stand, (each arm from its respective side of the fold) so there are no strands to work in at the bottom of either point. (It might be a little hard to see this because the purple placeholders are in the way, but you can see there are no green strands poking out of the bottom of either point, only out of the top of the lobes.)

  

One last thing before we get to the chart. 

As at left, all Infinity Loops can be knitted in contrasting color. This is because the way arms of the figure start on a placeholder makes them essentially independent of the background fabric. Therefore, nothing in the construction prevents you from using a separate strand of yarn (or many strands of yarn) in a contrasting color. 

Note: on the bullseye pattern above (a color adaptation of the original Celtic ring post), the outer rings would be more like diamonds if the sample had not been heavily blocked. However, this kind of distortion is not a problem with the other shapes so far in the series--Bowen cross knots, complex Bowen cross knots and hearts. 

Chart

The transformation map is identical in contrast-color hearts as it would be for a single color heart. In other words, working in a cc yarn does not change the transformations required for Infinity Loops. So here is a simple cut-and-paste of the original map from the original heart post.

  

Next we have the chart. As mentioned earlier, this is also a cut-and-paste from original heart post. The only difference is, the cc stitches are now shaded red. 

And finally, the written instructions. Once again a cut-and-paste from original heart post and again, the only difference is, the cc stitches are now written in red. 

row	Instructions for plain heart in contrast color (CC)  (Contrast color stitches indicated in RED)	stitch count
bottom	co 23 in main color (plus whatever side border stitches you choose). Work in garter stitch to make a bottom border to desired height. Switch to reverse st st and work a few rows.	23
1	k11, place first two loops of placeholder onto L needle. Prepare a 90” strand of Contrast Color (CC) yarn and fold it into a left arm and a right arm. Using the base of the right arm of the folded CC yarn, work 1 CC K st into each loop of the placeholder, p1, place last two loops of placeholder onto L needle and work 1 CC K st from other arm into each remaining loop of placeholder, p11.	23+4 =27
2	in this and every even row, K the k’s and P the p’s.  In this particular row, k 11, p2, k1, p2, k11	27
3	P10, R-p-T, p1, L-p-T, p10.  For these and every R-p-T, and every L-p-T, keep the traveling stitches in CC yarn, while the third, underlying stitch is worked in the background color. When switching colors, make sure to bring the new yarn (whether cc yarn or background yarn) up from under the previous stitch, in order to lock the cc yarn and the background sts together with a twist. At the end of this and every following row, de-tangle the running yarns by grasping each CC strand in turn, its base, and pulling it straight out of the tangle. This will release the tangled up twists in the running yarn.	27
4	k10, p2, k3, p2, k10	27
5	p9, R-p-T, p3, L-p-T, p9  R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	27
6	k9, p2, k5, p2, k9	27
7	p8, R-p-T, p5, L-p-T, p8 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	27
8	k8, p2, k7, p2, k8	27
9	p7, R-p-T, p7, L-p-T, p7 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	27
10	k7, p2, k9, p2, k7	27
11	p6, R-p-T, p9, L-p-T, p6 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	27
12	k6, p2, k11, p2, k6	27
13	p5, R-p-T, p5, place first two loops of placeholder onto L needle Prepare a 45” strand of Contrast Color (CC) yarn and fold it into a left arm and a right arm. Using the base of the right arm of the folded CC yarn, work 1 CC K st into each loop of the placeholder, p1, place last two loops of placeholder onto L needle and work 1 CC K st from other arm into each loop. p5, L-p-T, p5 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	27+4 = 31
14	k5, p2, k6, p2, k1, p2, k6, p2, k5	31
15	p4, R-p-T, p5, R-p-T, p1, L-p-T, p5, L-p-T, p4 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	31
16	k4, p2, k6, p2, k3, p2, k6, p2, k4,	31
17	p3, R-p-T, p5, R-p-T, p3, L-p-T, p5, L-p-T, p3 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	31
18	k3, p2, k6, p2, k5, p2, k6, p2, k3	31
19	p3, k2, p5, R-p-T, p5, L-p-T, p5, k2, p3 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	31
20	k3, p2, k5, p2, k7, p2, k5, p2, k3,	31
21	p3, L-p-T, p3, R-p-T, p7, L-p-T, p3, R-p-T, p3 R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	31
22	k4, p2, k3, p2, k9, p2, k3, p2, k4	31
23	p4, L-p-T, p1, R-p-T, p9, L-p-t, p1, R-p-t, p4, R-p-T and L-p-T as per CC instructions on row 5	31
24	k5, slip 2 p sts to holder, hold to back, k1, slip 2 p sts to holder, hold to back, k11, slip 2 p sts to holder, hold to back, k1, slip 2 p sts to holder, hold to back, k5	31- 8  =23
top	p23, then continue for an additional few rows in reverse st st, then add any top border you choose.	23

After working the heart, transform the stitches and dupli-graft the arms shut at the points, as set out in the original Celtic heart post.

--TK

Questions? Feedback? Talk to me about this post on TECHknitting Ravelry forum

PS: A personal note to the lovely readers who have written, worried because I post so erratically. As of this writing, I am in good health: many thanks for your concern. However, a family member is ill AND a new addition has arrived. (How DO little kids take up so much time and space?) Hopefully, I will be able to continue to post, just not as often as I would like. And again, Happy Valentine's day 2023 from me to you.